Preview: Crystal Palace v Huddersfield Town

19 September 2017

After seeing off Ipswich Town in the last round, Palace take on Huddersfield Town in the Carabao Cup this evening, looking to gain revenge on the Terriers for their opening day victory in SE25 last month.

Roy Hodgson will be looking to progress in the competition while also seeing some more members of his new Eagles squad in action, having completed just a week as Palace boss.

He is expected to hand game time to deadline day arrival Mamadou Sakho as well as Pape Souare, who has been out for a year following a car accident that gave him a broken leg and jaw.

Terriers flying after great start

It was only 39 days ago that a brace from Steve Mounier followed a Joel Ward own goal to hand David Wagner’s side a first ever victory in the Premier League at the Eagles’ expense, and then they followed that up with a 1-0 success against Newcastle United thanks to Aaron Mooy’s curling effort at a rocking John Smith’s Stadium.

The fantastic start continued as they saw off Rotherham United to set up tonight’s encounter, before claiming another point by holding Southampton to a goalless draw. However, Wagner would finally taste top-flight defeat against West Ham United last week, but bounced back by winning a point against Leicester City on Saturday to take his team's tally to eight from five games, leaving them sixth in the division.

View from the opposition

David Wagner: “We all love cup competitions and our aim is to be successful in them. You only have one chance and one game and we will pick the most competitive and strongest team to be successful.

“We will not just pick players to give them minutes in their legs – we want to play the game and be in the next round of the cup.”

Team news

As well as the returns of long-term casualties Sakho and Souare, James Tomkins could feature after being named on the bench against Southampton on the weekend after his groin injury, and Bakary Sako has also now recovered from injury and could feature as Hodgson continues to evaluate his squad.

Wilfried Zaha and Connor Wickham remain out with knee injuries.

Jonathan Hogg could return for Town after being named on the bench last weekend, but strikers Collin Quaner and Mounie are out with calf and heel injuries repectively. Also out are Martin Cranie (hip), Jon Gorenc Stanković (knee) and Kasey Palmer (hamstring).

Matchday officials

It's a first visit to Selhurst Park in over four years for Lee Probert, who takes charge in SE25 for the first time since Palace beat Sunderland 3-1 in August 2013. The last Eagles game he oversaw was the 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United later that season, with Palace winning six of the 11 matches he has officiated.

Report: Crystal Palace 1-0 Huddersfield Town

19 September 2017

Roy Hodgson celebrated his first win as Eagles manager as Bakary Sako’s goal was enough to beat Huddersfield Town and allow Palace to advance to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup.

The Malian was deployed as a makeshift striker by Hodgson and repaid his manager’s faith by netting from an Andros Townsend corner on 12 minutes as a much-changed Eagles side put aside their poor start to the league campaign to claim a morale-boosting victory in front of their own fans.

The game also saw Mamadou Sakho complete 70 minutes on his return to the line-up following his deadline day arrival, as well as Pape Souare complete his recovery from his car accident over 12 months ago as a half-time introduction.

A night of encouraging signs for the home side began after just three minutes when Townsend scuffed a low grasscutter straight at Joel Coleman, but 10 minutes later the long wait for a goal stretching back to the second round tie against Ipswich Town ended in simple fashion.

After Chung-yong Lee saw a shot deflected wide for a corner, Townsend delivered an inswinger into the box, and an unchallenged Sako had the simple task of redirecting it into the net with his head to net his first Eagles goal in over two years.

The Terriers quickly tried to restore parity and their first threatening attack saw Scott Malone edge past Patrick van Aanholt on the right and slide the ball across the face of goal for Elias Kachunga, but the striker should have done better as he fired over his first-time effort from six yards out.

Van Aanholt then found himself in the opposition’s final third as he slalomed past two defenders before pinging one goalwards with his right foot but it was straight down the throat of Coleman, a feat that was repeated by Townsend on the other flank a couple of minutes later as a rejuvenated Palace pressed for a second before half-time.

A couple of scares came their way from ex-Eagle Tom Ince who curled a free-kick over the bar before being picked out on the edge of the area, but his attempt aimed for the bottom corner couldn’t beat captain for the night Julian Speroni, but Hodgson’s team’s confidence continued to grow and on the stroke of half-time a free-flowing move involving Lee, Townsend and Sako carved out a chance for the onrushing Jeffrey Schlupp who hit straight at Coleman, before the opening 45 ended with a Townsend piledriver flashing just wide.

The good news kept coming for Palace as at half-time Souare made his long-awaited comeback, but with a one-goal lead their name in the hat for the next round wasn’t secure and Philip Billing blasted wide, substitute Abdelhamid Sabiri forced a fine block by Speroni and Scott Malone fizzed a 30-yarder off target within 10 minutes of the restart as David Wagner’s team started the half much better.

They then forced Speroni into another stop when Rajiv Van la Parra couldn’t get enough contact onto his effort after cutting back inside the box, but Palace managed to hold firm and nearly grabbed the second goal that would ensure their progression when Townsend saw a shot from 25 yards take a wicked deflection but spin wide of the mark, and from the corner Sako saw another header from close range cleared away from danger by Aaron Mooy.

Huddersfield threw everything at the hosts in the final stages and Coleman even joined the attack for a while in stoppage-time, but they didn’t come close to breaching the Eagles defence and Hodgson could celebrate his first win in the SE25 dugout.

Season Ticket Holders and Paid Members may purchase tickets in advance at a discounted rate of £15 for Adults and £5 for Concessions (Junior and Senior), and Under 12s go free with each paying adult. In addition, double loyalty points will be awarded to those purchasing advance tickets before matchday. Please note, the discounted rate and loyalty point bonus is not available on matchday.

General sale tickets (for Non-Members and those bought on matchday) are priced at £20 for Adults and £10 for Concessions, with Under 12s free with each paying adult.

The Lower Tier will be the only section open in the Holmesdale Road Stand.